Drawing mechanism for spinning and roving frames



Aug. 7', 1945.- J. RABASA 2,381,856

DRAWING MECHANISM FOR SPINNING AND ROVING FRAMES Filed June 25, 1942 E35 II M111; -9

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w: I m 49 fl 634 d Patented Aug. 7, 1945 DRAWING IVIECHANISM FORSPINNING AND ROVING FRAMES Joseph Rabasa, Biddetord, Maine, assinol toSaco-Lowell Shops, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Maine Application June25, 1942, Serial No. 448,342

Claims.

This invention relates to spring weighting apparatus for the drawingmechanisms of spinning and roving frames.

It aims to devise a weighting mechanism which will be very simple inconstruction, will operate with a high degree of uniformity, will beconvenient to install and to operate, will require a minimum ofattention, and in which the springs can be replaced quickly with othersof different characteristics when desired to suit the requirements ofthe material being run.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from thefollowing description when read in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in theappended claims.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a vertical, sectional view through a roller beamillustrating an apparatus constructed in accordance with this invention,some parts being shown in elevation; and I,

Figure 2 is a horizontal, sectional view approxi mately on the line 22,Figure 1.

Referring first to Fig. 1, a drawing mechanism of a common commercialtype is there illustrated comprising front, middle and back bottom rolls2, 3 and 4, respectively, and top rolls cooperating with them andindicated at 5, 6 and I. In this particular mechanism an apron 8 runsover the middle bottom roll 3 and the guide bar 9, and it is tensionedby an idle roll l0, but the invention is equally applicable to otherforms of drawing mechanisms. The drawing rolls may be supported in theconventional manner in roll stands mounted on a roll stand beam I8.During the operation of the machine these rolls feed strands of sliverforwardly laterally of the beam and toward the forward edge of thelatter.

The weighting mechanism for the top rolls comprises a. lever l2fulcrumed at I4 on a screwthreaded stud or post I5, and the latter isequipped with nuts l6 and I! by means of which the post may be adjustedvertically in the roller beam l8. Bearing against the lower side of thelever I2 is a plunger 20 which is pressed upwardly by a compressionspring 2| enclosed in a thimble 22. The spring bottoms on the lowerinturned portion of the thimble, while at its upper end it supports theplunger head 20' consisting of a collar through which the plunger stemor rod extends loosely. This plunger rod has an upper section of largediameter and a lower section 24 of smaller diameter, with a shoulder atthe junction of the two sections, and this shoulder rests on the collar20'. Upward movement of the latter is limited by the thimble top orcover 23, the edges of which are crimped around the out-turned flange orhead of the thimble. The plunger is guided partly by the walls of acentral hole in the cover 23 and partly, also, by a hole in the bottomof the thimble. This spring and plunger unit or assembly is supported ina hole drilled for it in the roller beam I 8 with the head of thethimble resting on the upper surface of the beam, or on a beam plate 25placed on said surface.

The force exerted on the lever by the spring pressed plunger istransmltted'to the upper drawing rolls by connections including a hook28 en-v gaging a .pin 21 on the lever l2, 9. link or spreader 28 pivotedto said hook, and front and rear stirrups 29 and 30 pivoted to theopposite ends of said link. The front stirrup has a hook-shaped upperend resting on the reduced neck of the front roll 5, while the rearmember 30 engages a depressed portion of a saddle 3| which bears on thenecks of both the middle and back top rolls 6 and I. With thisarrangement the load applied by the spring pressed plunger 20 to thelever I2 is multiplied several times, and it is properly distributedbetween the stirrups 29 and 30 by a' suitable spacing of the pivot pin32 from the pivotal points of connection of the the link 28.

It should be observed that this team 1 stirrups 29 and 30. This fact isof advantage in a parts leave the shop. Consequently, the assem-. blermerely has to place the post IS in its proper position, give it a trial,adjustment forheight,

- drop the spring unit into its hole, and then he" manufacturing,handling andinstalling the parts In installing the apparatus on anewmachine, the holes are accurately drilled in the roller beam for thepostslS and the thimbles 22 before the connects'up the stirrupassemblywith the lever,

as shown in Fig. 1. Next he adjusts the vertical position ofthe'ful'crum by means of thenuts'll and'l'lv until the setting mark a onthe plunger 20 is exactly flush with the upper-surface of the stirrupsto formity is-carried through into the final assembly in the spinningframe by the adjustment of the parts to the Setting mark, as justdescribed.

In assembling one of these weighting mechanisms on an old frame itprobably will be necessary to drill one or more new holes by hand, in

which .event the beam. plate 25 is useful in covering the old holes andproviding new properly sized and accurately located holes to receive thefulcrum post I5 and the pressure unit 22. This is particularly truebecause it is often difficult to drill the new holes by hand to exactlythe right size and location, and the beam plate permits the drilling ofthese holes somewhat oversize and a little of! center while stillpermitting the proper location of the holes for the parts I5 and 22. Oneor more screws 33 can be used to secure this plate in its accurateposition.

An important advantage of this mechanism is that when it is desired torelease the weight on the top-rolls, it is merely necessary for theoperator to press down on the forward end of the lever I2 with herhand,a very slight movement of this lever being sufficient to permit her toun-- hook the load member 26, after which the stirrup 29 or the saddle3|, or both, can be removed, as desired. This arrangement makes theoperation of unloading the rolls or unhooking the weighting mechanismexceptionally easy and convenient to perform. Subsequently, inre-applying the weight, the stirrup assembly first is restored to itsoriginal position, but the lever I2 at this time is tilted upwardly. Dueto the fact that the upper end of the load hook 25 is square and isspaced only slightly from the web of the channelshaped link 28, only avery limited swinging movement of this hook relatively to the link ispermitted so that its lower end at this time will lie just above theposition occupied by the pin or roll 21. Upon forcing the lever I2 downtoward its normal position, as shown in Fig. 1, the pin 21 should strikethe lower end of the hook at about the point b and upon further upwardmovement of this pin it will tip the part 25 slightly to the right andthe hook of the latter finally will drop to the left under the pin 21 asthe lever comes down to its correct position. This materially reducesthe labor involved in hooking up the weighting mechanisms in the entireline of rolls of a long spinning or roving frame.

'I'heconstruction just described is of further advantage in preventingthe hook 26 from swinging too far out of its normal relationship to thelink 28 at any time. For the same reason the stirrup 25 is provided witha nose piece or projection 34 to engage the web of the channel-shapedlink 28 and limit the swinging movement of the former in acounter-clockwise direction.

An alternative and somewhat quicker and simpler method of releasing theweight from all the top rolls is by simply pressing down on the forwardor handle end of the lever I2 with one hand and unhooking the front toproll hook 29 from the top roll 5 with the other hand. The weight can bereapplied to all the rolls by again pressing down on the lever andrehooking the front which is particularly noticeable when slubs orbunches run between the rolls.

A further and important advantage of this mechanism is that the springplunger units can 5" be quickly replaced with others having lighter orheavier springs whenever'a large change in weighting is required becauseof the nature of the work being run. Such replacement merely involvesthe unhooking of the front top roll hook 29 as previously described andthe tipping of the lever I2 in a clockwise direction far enough topermit the removal of the spring unit 22 and the introduction of adifferent one in its place, the

v latter having the desired pressure characteristies. In making thissubstitution the plunger rod 20, 24 can be removed from the old springunit and replaced in the new one.

At the right-hand end of the lever I2 a pin or rivet 35 extends from onechannel side to the other where it is useful in locking the load hook 26in a different relationship to the lever, when desired, as in the handoperation of the lever.

While I have herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of myinvention, it will be evident that the invention may be embodied inother forms without departing from the spirit or scope thereof.

Also, because the invention is equally applicable to spinning and.roving frames, both will be herein 30 included in the term "spinningframes.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

1. A weighting mechanism for one or more of the top rolls of a drawingmechanism for a spinning frame provided with a horizontal roll standbeam and including a sets of rolls above said beam for feeding strandsof sliver forwardly toward the front of said beam, comprising a leverfulcrumed on the rearward portion of said beam and extending forwardabove said beam to a convenient operating position at the front thereofbelow the front rolls, connections running from the rearward portion ofsaid lever to one or more of said top rolls to weight the latter, theforward end portion of said lever forming a handle, and a spring unitpositioned in said beam near the forward side thereof and acting on saidlever to tension said connections.

2. A weighting mechanism according to preceding claim 1, in which saidspring unit includes a thimble, a spring housed therein and a plungeroperated by the spring, said unit being supported in arr-aperture insaid beam for removal therefrom at the upper side of the beam and saidplunger being positioned to bear on the lower side of said lever at apoint in front of said fulcrum.

3. A weighting mechanism according to preceding claim 1, in which saidspring unit includes a thimble removably supported in an aperture insaid beam and provided with a head resting on the upper surface of saidbeam, a compression spring in said thimble, and a plunger on which saidspring acts, said plunger having 55 portions extending through both thetop and the bottomof the thimble and guided therein.

4. A weighting mechanism according to preceding claim 1, in which saidlever is mounted on an adjustable fulcrum supported in said beam.

5. A weighting mechanism according to preceding claim 1, in which ascrew-threaded bolt is pivotally connected with said lever and serves asa fulcrum support for the latter, said bolt projecting throughanaperture in said beam, and

nuts threaded thereon above and below the beam to support it forvertical adjustment relatively to the beam.

6. A weighting mechanism for one or more of the top rolls of a drawingmechanism for a spinning frame provided with a horizontal roll standbeam and including a set of rolls above said beam for feeding strands ofsliver forwardly toward the front of said beam, comprising a leverfulcrumed on the rearward portion of said beam and extending forwardabove said beam to a convenient operating position at the front thereofbelow the front rolls; the forward end portion of said lever forming ahandle, connections running from said lever to a plurality of said toprolls for weighting. the latter; said connections including twostirrups, a link connecting the lower ends of said stirrups above saidbeam, a weight hook pivoted to said link and releasably connected withsaid lever; and a spring acting on said lever in a direction to tensionsaid weight hook and said stirrups.

7. A weighting mechanism for one or more of the top rolls of a drawingmechanism for a spinning frame provided with a horizontal. roll standbeam and including a set of rolls above said ward the front of saidbeam, comprising a lever fulcrumed on said beam and extending forwardabove said beam to a convenient operating position at the front thereofbelow the front rolls; the

forward end portion of said lever forming a handle, connections runningfrom said lever to a plurality of said top rolls for weighting thelatter; said connections including two stirrups, a link connecting thelower ends of said stirrups, and

a weight hook pivoted to said link and releasably connected with saidlever; said stirrups, link and acting on said lever in a direction totension said weight hook and said stirrups.

8. A weighting mechanism according to preceding claim 1, in which saidspring unit includes a thimble removably supported in an aperture insaid beam and provided with a head resting on the upper surface of saidbeam, a compression spring in said thimble, and a plunger on which saidspring acts, said plunger having portions extending through both the topand the bottom of the thimble and guided therein, in combination with aplate mounted on said beam and apertured to position both said springunit and the fulcrum for said lever.

9. A weighting mechanism for one or more of the top rolls of a drawingmechanism for a spinning frame provided with a horizontal roll standbeam and including a set of rolls above said beam for feeding strands ofsliver forwardly toward the front of said beam, comprising a leverfulcrumed on said beam and extending forward from the rearward portionthereof across the top of the beam to a convenient operating position atthe front thereof, the forward end portion of said lever being free andforming a handle positioned at the front of the beam below the frontrolls of said set and spaced both from said rolls and also from saidbeam, weighting connections extending from said lever to one or more ofthe top rolls of said set, and a spring acting on said lever in adirection to cause it to tension said connections, whereby the weightingforce can be relieved by operating the forward end of said lever.

10. A weighting mechanism according to preceding claim '7, in which saidweight hook is so inclined that when unhooked from said lever it is heldby gravity in position to be rehooked automatically merely by returningthe lever to its normal position, said lever and said hook having partscooperating to produce this result.

JOSEPH RABASA.

